Monday, January 14, 2008

Pop Scores Big In Brits Nominations, But Here's How They Coulda Been Slightly Better

With four nominations apiece for Take That and Leona Lewis, two for Kylie Minogue and one each for Girls Aloud, Sugababes and Mutya Buena, pop is definitely representin' along with the usual indie rock fare in the 2008 Brit Awards nominations that were announced today.

But pop fans being the fickle lot that we are, naturally there were a few glaring instances where the nods could have been a tad better.

Probably the weakest category this year, as far as the nominees. One surefire way to sex it up a bit would have been to scrap Jamie T in lieu of Shayne Ward, who deserves some props for not falling by the sophomore slump wayside.

Bat For Lashes? Honestly! Where are Ghosts? Maybe since their two singles didn't chart in the Top 20 they don't qualify as "breakthrough," but why not acknowledge Calvin Harris or Booty Luv, who had a couple big hits each in 2007?

3. International Female Solo Artist

Nominees:Alicia KeysBjörkFeistKylie MinogueRihanna

They almost got it right here, save for Alicia Keys, who just feels tacked-on and too obvious. And you know where I'm going here -- where the hell is Robyn!?

Chuck Kanye West -- he's a big baby -- and replace him with Darren Hayes. He did it on his own without a big-label budget or a table of trendy producers at his disposal. Or, lose Springsteen. Yeah, yeah -- he's a legend. But he could fill his swimming pool with awards at this point.

5. International Group

Nominees:Arcade FireEaglesFoo FightersKings Of LeonThe White Stripes

If any category smacks of blindly filling in the blanks with any old act, it's this one. Why play it safe with The White Stripes or Foo Fighters? Shame on the Brits for not nominating Hellogoodbye, after their global hit -- particularly in the U.K. -- with "Here (In Your Arms)" last year.

Ignoring Shayne Ward´s achievements actually shows that the UK is meanspirited. No 1 or 2 in the charts sold over 450,000 in the UK alone on his sophomore album not to mention 2 million on his first album, No 1 in 16 countries and 8 songs charting in Hong Kong and one time and he is ignored for ??????????

Paul and Anonymous, not nominating Shayne but acknowledging Leona Lewis is sour grapes, but I can understand the reluctance to give props to too many Simon Cowell/Louis Walsh folks... Oh, shit... I totally forgot to watch American Idol tonight!

Shayne not nominated for a brit award just goes to show how biased the people in control of these awards are, he is the best british male artist britain has had in recent years, sexy talented and a really nice guy. The people in control are blind, deaf and probably jealous of him. Fortunately he has loyal fans who will support him for the long and succesful career that he will have. You only have to look at the other nominations to know that it is all a big farce!